Boat-launching device



May 17, 1927.

v H. L. SORENSEN BQAT LAUNCHING DEVICE Filed Nov. 9. 1925 4 Sheets-She d1 mvamon Hem $712M; 0:

ATTORNEYS '2 WITNESSEQ w j W I By f J ATTORNEYS May 17, 1927. 1,679,419

H. 1.. SORENSEN BOAT LAUNCHING DEVICE Filed Nov. 9. 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet2 WITNESS 1N VENTOR May 17, 1927. 1,629,419

H. L..- SORENSEN BOAT LAUNCHING DEVICE Filed Nov. 9. 1925 4 Sheets-Sheets ES 1 I INVENTOR WITNESS Hnniqylhlomzwaw v BY ATTORNEYS May .171 1921.

H. L, sbRENsEN BOAT LAUNCHING DEVICE Filed Nov 9. 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Ill') Patented May 17, 1927.

gegggg HENNING L'.'- SORENSEN; 0F .ALLENTO'WN5"PENNSYLVANIA.

BOAT- AUNCHING' w en;

'Appli cati'oii filedfiveinber 9; 1925. seriaim. 67,957.

This invention "relates to shout-launching device.

An object of-the inventionis to provide a boat lz'tuiiching devicewhich, as soon asitheQ boat is released' will 'b'e'in apotentialcondition to permit-the boat to swingoutboa'rd.

A further object: concerns the provision of an apparatus Whiehisextremely simple;

requiring a n'iiniinuin operittion onthe pztrt of-a inininiuro number*o-f 111811 and whichv is out of repair.

A further object concerns the provision of simple. and eihcient' means"h'erehy when the hoat'is safely inthe Water it can be disconnected fromthe lowering tackle."

The invention is illustrated in the draw ings. of which I V Figure 1 isa side elevation of the boat supported on its'davits and showing] theleiiniel'xingapparatus. I

Figure Bis an end'elei ation showing the deck ot'th'e liner in'seo'tionand past of the fluid cylinder in section. This-section is taken oneline 2-2o-f Figure 1; c

Figure 3 is at section somewhatsiini'lzut'to Figure 2 showing. the boatswung to snout heard position, but not yet imvered; the" loweredpositionof the bout being show'n'in' dotted lines Figure; 4; is a detailedsection showing a means for holdingthehoat in'positionon the daVitfriine before it is lziune'hed.

Figure 5 is a partially enlarged section of the boat-on a dzi'vitfrainewhile 'itis at rest thereon. r

Figure 6 is a partialelev'a'tion of o'ne of the dsvit'fra'mes. r Y

Figure 7 is a partial longitudinal section through the boat showing howhe loW-eriiig tackle can he quickly released. I I Figure: 8 is a'seetienon the line 8+8O1 Figure 'T. 1 V

L igur'e 9 is a partial p'len'viewshowing eiftreinelyduraihleend'littlelik'ely to" get the releasin g 'pin the operation of Whichcauses the release of the lowering t'ac'lile.

The form of the invention shown in the dre'wings'is a preferre'df0r1n,'alth0u'gh it is understood that modifications in the eonstructionai'id errsngeinentof the parts and in the chai's 'cter oftheinziterial's used may be" adopted Without defia rting from the spiritof'the inventiona's eetio'rth in the appendedclaims.

In its general aspect the in vent'io'n is m vided to "support a boat;preferably a lifeboat on thedeck ot a lin erby means of two de'vitfreine's; 'ohe loc'a'tedTne'm each end of thehoa'ti' These datit-'t'raniesai'eso pivotally supported on the deckof a liner thet as soonthe sup 'portiiig plates are". released these i franies will tend toswing 1 out The boat-is held in'po'sition o'ii'thcI"i'em"'esfiierrndllfy" by means of spin ralitj "ot suitably movablesupportingplates, which when actuetedQCan he moved out; of the Way toperini-tthe boat autoni etically to siyin g'free from the daVit fiai'neszts these frames commence to tilt outboard." This tendency" of the davit frames" to tilt out board" is check'edahd braked'byreason ofthefzict thut the davit frames are provided with si'iitshlecoi'ii'iectiohsy such as steel at: hles'td a iston in a cylinder filled\v'th fluid, prefefsbl? oil. The"fiow' of the oil from thecylincl-er andcons 'cj'uei i the tiltin'g oi the frame 'is controlled by one 'inan'who may helocated onthe deck 'of-the liner or preferably the boat, whichis outwardly located. This cylinder is' connected tethe "controllingposition by suitable 'fle: :i

hle pip'ingsiich as rtibber hose ends valve in said pipe is'edeptetltdhe 'actuzited by the nie'mberef the ciewi'n'chaigehf lau'nch-Consequently" asFsoon as the btiat is' releQSed the datits "will" tendto swing outii ttrdly and the speed of v this tiltin'g can'he controlledby theinzinipulhtioir of thevalve. When the boat is thusswungoutboard'thelowefing of-it intothe Water can be likewise controlledloy' the inaiiipula tio n of an'othei vslve in upipe line con nectecl'toanother fluid cylinder; the listen of which is eonneet'e'd' by suitabletziclde to the boat.

pivotally connected as at 31, (see Figure the boat itself. Preferablythis tackle is duplex or triplex type, which will permit the travel ofthe boat to be several times greater than the travel of the piston.

Preferably the controlling mechanism is so arranged that as soon as theboat is properly launched this apparatus can be thrown overboard. It isalso preferably disposed so that as the fluid, preferably oil,discharges from the cylinder, it will flow through the piping disposedon the boat and overboard adjacent the boat to calm the waters in thevicinity of the boat. As soon the boat is safely in the water themanipulation of the single lever will cause the automatic release of thelowering tackle front the boat.

In the preferred form of my invention, which I show in the drawings,represents the deck of a liner. Disposed beneath the deck are two fluidcylinders 11 and 12 having pistons 13 and 14 provided with piston rods15 and 16. These cylinders are preferably filled with oil. A pipe 17leading to the top of cylinder 12 is provided with a hand pump 18,operated by the manipulation of a lever 19 which will permit additionaloil to be pumped intothe cylinder 12 through pipe 20 leading to asuitable source of oil.

The piston 13 is connected by preferably flexible steel cables, one ofwhich, 21, is shown, passing over pulleys 22 and 23 and connected to therear end 24 of a davit frame 25. There are two davit frames of this typefor each boat, one located near each end of the boat. These davit frameshave a vertically extending arm 26 and a forwardly extending portion 27,the boat 28 being supported or resting on the latter.

The boat is held on the davit frames be tween two supporting plates 29and 30, there being a pair of these plates at each end of The plates 30are movable, being to a movable post 32. having a normal position shownin full line in Figure 2. This post is connected to a rod 33 adapted tobe actuated by the manipulation of a hand. wheel 34 through suitablethread and sleeve connections designated by the numeral 35 in Figure 5.When this hand wheel is manipulated it will draw the posts 32 to thedotted position shown in Figure 5, which will lower the movable plate 30to the dotted position shown in Figure 5, thus removing it from the pathof the keel 36 of the boat 28, so that the boat will be free to swingoff the supporting portion 27 of the davits as hereinafter to bedescribed.

The shaft 31 extends across beneath the boat to the other davit frameand another post similar to 32 is located at the other end of the shaftand this post is connected to another movable plate 30, which islikewise moved by the 'manipulation' of the hand wheel.

Each of the davit frames are pivotally supported on a shaft 37 mountedon suit-able bearing brackets 38 and 39 (see Figure 1).

Pulleys 40 are disposed at each end of the shaft 37 to. receive flexibleconnections such as steel cables 41 hereinafter to be described.

The pipe 42 extends from the cylinder 11 a latch finger 44 connected tothe davit arm 26 engages the side of the boat 28 to hold it on the davitmore securely. -This finger may be lifted to disengage it from the boatwhen the boat is to be launched.

W hen it is necessary to launch the boat the passengers get into theboat and this increased weight being supported on the plates 27 of thedavit frame will tend to tilt the davit frames around the shaft 37. Thiswill put a strain on the cables 21 and the piston 13, which willcompressthe fluid in the cylinder. By opening the valve 43 a man in theboat will permit the fluid to flow out at whatever speed he desires,thus permitting the davit frame to tilt. Before he opens the valve,however, he releases the finger 44 and manipulates the hand wheel 34 tomove the plates 30 out of the way of the keel of the boat. As the oilflows out of the cylinder 11 the davit tilts to the position shown inFigure 3. The oil flowing from the cylinder may be allowed to flowoverboard or may be permitted to flow through suitable piping to anysuitable source or container not shown.

when the boatis in the position shown in Figure 3 in full lines, it isnecessary to lower it into the water. This is done by opening a valve 45(see Figure 7). This valve is connected on one side to a flexible piping46 leading to pipe 17 previously mentioned, this pipe extending to thetop of'cylinder 12. The previous manipulation of the hand pump 18 hasforced an extra quantity of oil into the top of this cylinder 12, thusdepressing the piston 14 further down and by reason of the connection ofthe block 47 and the cables 41 to the boat initially lift the body ofthe boat from the davit frames. hen the valve 45 is open, however, thefluid will be forced out by reason of the wei ht of the boat through thevalve 45 into hose or pipes 48 and 49 which are preferably draped overthe ends of the boat in coils such as 50 and 51 (see Figure 1) fromwhich the oil will be discharged overboard It is immaterial, however,

lll)

at the ends of the boat tending to ealm the waves.- I

The factthat the cable ll is a triplex cable between the sheave t?anchtlie multiple pulley 681 (see Figure permits the boatto drop threetimes far as thepistonl l moves. After the boat is in the water thevalve 455 can be thrown overboard. It is also obvious that instead ofallowing oil to discharge on the water it can be permitted to dischargeinto suitable containers on the vessel, whence it can be pumped backinto the cylinder if desired, and this pumping action can be utilizedtoraise the boat from the water and to restore the davit frame to itsoriginal position. Furthermore, it is obvious that the control of thetilting of the davit frame and the lowering of the boat can be effectedfrom the deck of the steamer if desired, launched, although the lattermethod of control is preferable, since one man in the boat itself canvery nicely regulate its movements.

After the boat is in the water a handle 51 (see Figure 1) is operated topull on two links 52 and 58 moving them in opposite directions as shownin Figure 9. One of these links is shown as running over a pulley 54 andconnecting to a pin 55, which by reason of the movement of the handle 51will be withdrawn from a hole in a bar 56 connected to the end of a rod57 (see Figure 7) on the end of which a weight 58 is support ed. Thisrod is pivoted at 59 and is connected to ahook 60. This hook engages alink 61 which is connected to the lower end of one of the cables 41.supporting the boat. The

shaft 59 and the hook 60 are mounted on bracket frames 62 fastened inthe bottom of the boat and located within suitable wall casings such as63 at each end of the boat. It is understood, of course, that there aretwo cables shone at each end of the boat and lying over two davitframes, these cables being connected to the same sheave 47 by engaging,as shown in Figure 1, with pulleys (54 at the top of'each davit frame, apulley 65 intermediate the length of the davit frame and then runningover the pulleys L0 in connection with each davit frame. The cables thenproceed beneath the deck 10 and pass over pulleys 66 and 67 after whichthey pass over a multiple pulley 68 mounted beneath the deck and thenare connected to the sheave 47. w

It is quite apparent from consideration of this description that thedevice is as simple as any mechanism of this sort can be, that it iscapable of a very high degree of control and can be operated with asmuch speed as can be desired under theusual conditions of launching a"boat. 'One of the important points in regard to the invention is thatthe entire apparatus is controlled by one man and that the speed of theaction is instead of the boat being regulated'hy'hini, and isentirely inresponseto gravi-ty, minus the checking action ofi-th'e fluidbrakes; Itisibelieveditliatthis istliefirst timethat a tiltingd-avitrofthiskindhas ever been disclosed; which, merely by 7 Pt ESODP of. the weight ofthe'pa ssengers in the boat supported on the davit wi-ll tend to movethe boat=to an outboard position.

hat I claim is: 1. A boat launching device which comprises a pivoteddavit supporting a boat and adapted to tilt due to the weight of theboat,

. fluid controlled means connected to the davit the speed of loweringthe boat from the davit into the water, means in the boat under thecontrol of the operator to control the first mentioned fluid controlledmeans, and means loosely supported in the boat under the control of theoperator for controlling the second mentioned fluid controlled means.

3. A boat launching device which comprises a davit frame pivoted to thedeck of a vessel, a boat supported thereon, said davit adapted to tiltdue to the weight of the boat, a fluid cylinder having a piston,connections between the piston and the davit frame, and means looselysupported in the boat under the control of an operator to regulate thedischarge of fluid from the cylinder whereby the speed of tilting of thedavit frame can be controlled.

4. A boat launching device which comprises a davit frame pivoted to thedeck of a vessel, a boat supported thereon, said davit adapted to tiltdue to the wt-iight of the boat, a fluid cylinder having a piston,connections between the piston and the davit frame, and means looselysupported in the boat under the control of an operator to regulate thedischarge of fluid from the cylinder whereby the speed of tilting of thedavit frame can be controlled, and a second fluid cylinder having apiston, connections between said piston and the boat, and means underthe control of the operator to regulate the dischargeof the fluid fromsaid second cylinder whereby the speed of the descent of the boatfromthe davitframe can be regulated. j

5. A boat launching device which comprises adavit frame, a boatsupported thereon, a fluid cylinder having a piston, connections betweenthe piston and the boat and lid means loosely supported in the boatunder the control of an operator for regulating the discharge of fluidfrom its cylinder, where by the speed of descent of the boat from thedavit can be controlled.

thereon, a fluid cylinder having a piston,

means connecting the piston to the boat and means whereby additionalfluid can be pumped into the cylinder to move the piston a sufiicientamount whereby the boat will be slightly raised from the davit prior tobe ing launched.

HENNING L. SORENSEN.

